Georgia Peanut Commission announces research project funding

What is in this article?:

• The research projects approved include 22 proposals from the 27 submitted by the University of Georgia and USDA-Agricultural Research Service.

• This year the GPC will also manage 18 additional Georgia research projects using $526,000 in contracted funds from the National Peanut Board.

The Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) board of directors has approved $260,000 in new research project funding for its 2012-13 research budget.

This action was taken during the Commission's March board meeting.

The research projects approved include 22 project proposals from the 27 submitted by the University of Georgia and USDA-Agricultural Research Service.

"We are proud of our close relationship and partnership with research institutions in the state," says Donald Chase, Georgia Peanut Commission Research Committee chairman.

"Peanut growers are pleased to invest in the future by providing monetary support for research and education that has continued to demonstrate a return on our investment.”

Georgia's peanut growers invest $2 per ton annually toward research, promotion, and education programs of the GPC. Annual research funding has tracked at 21 percent of available GPC funds.

This year the GPC will also manage 18 additional Georgia research projects using $526,000 in contracted funds from the National Peanut Board. There will be 40 total research projects in the amount of $786,000 managed by the GPC in 2012-13.

"The importance of peanut producers' investments in research cannot be underestimated," says Emory Murphy, GPC Research Committee secretary.

Murphy noted that peanut research and Extension programs have contributed to four historical state record yields out of the past five consecutive years.

"Cultivars planted by growers today are producing 700 to 1,000 pounds an acre more than the cultivars they were growing five or six years ago," Murphy says.

On nearly half of the U.S. production, Georgia peanut yields are consistently higher than other states while maintaining and improving quality.